It's certainly more difficult to root for an individual athlete than it is for a sports team over the course of, say, a generation.

I know this makes me a bit of a freak, but I honestly don’t understand the concept of “rooting for a team”, when one has no personal connection to anyone on it—let alone in sports with which one has no personal experience. It all looks like granfalloons to me.

I know this makes me a bit of a freak, but I honestly don’t understand the concept of “rooting for a team”, when one has no personal connection to anyone on it—let alone in sports with which one has no personal experience. It all looks like granfalloons to me.

A major sport's franchise that has been around as long as say, an NFL team that hasn't been moved in a long time, is often an interconnected with the culture and in many cases the economic well-being of the region around it. The stadium provides jobs, a good season will bring up tourism, and games become a cultural hub, part of the experience of living in that place.

At times when the town is in the shitter but the team is doing well, it becomes a symbol to rally behind. When the team hasn't won a Superbowl since 1967, it turns into a symbol of loyalty to where you came from. It really is a different experience anywhere in the country, but it's important everywhere except Detroit.

I know this makes me a bit of a freak, but I honestly don’t understand the concept of “rooting for a team”, when one has no personal connection to anyone on it—let alone in sports with which one has no personal experience. It all looks like granfalloons to me.

It's the same little bits of brain that make people proud of their heritage, feel impressed by the story of how their parents' romance, cry when they see the flag of their home country, or decide that Harry Potter really should have ended up with Hermione.

It's the same little bits of brain that make people proud of their heritage, feel impressed by the story of how their parents' romance, cry when they see the flag of their home country, or decide that Harry Potter really should have ended up with Hermione.